More Information

Post Office meeting
The U.S. Postal Service will hold a community meeting on the future of Danbury's Main Street post office May 4, at 5 p.m. in City Hall. Danbury residents are encouraged to attend.
Those who cannot attend can mail their comments to: Manager of Consumer Affairs, U.S. Postal Service, 141 Weston St., Hartford CT. 06101
They can also e-mail comments to the mayor's office via the City of Danbury website at: www.ci.danbury.ct.us
For information, call the Danbury CityLine 311 at 203-744-4311.

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DANBURY -- Downtown residents pushing to save a downtown post office can speak directly to the U.S. Postal Service.

Barbara Mastroianni, the post office review coordinator, and other Postal Service officials are expected to attend. For information, call the Danbury CityLine 311 at 203-744-4311.

"It's absolutely important," Boughton said. "If you have concerns or thoughts about any potential closing, you should attend."

"We're very much looking forward to meeting and listening to the residents of Danbury," Maureen Marion, spokeswoman for the Postal Service said Monday. "Community involvement is very important to us."'

However, Thomas Saadi, the leader of the Democratic caucus on the Common Council, said he is not pleased with the 5 p.m. meeting time.

Saadi said the Postal Service should start the meeting early in the evening -- Common Council meetings begin at 7 p.m., he said -- rather than late in the afternoon.

"What are business owners supposed to do? Close early so they can attend?" Saadi said.

Boughton said the Postal Service originally wanted to meet at 1 p.m. May 4. The compromise was 5 p.m., he said.

"It's a good time,'' Marion said of the 5 p.m. meeting, pointing out that commuters will be returning home, while many who use the post office will still be in town at that hour.

Marion said those who can't attend the meeting can send written comments to Manager of Customer Affairs; U.S. Postal Service, 141 Weston St., Hartford, CT 06101.

Boughton said people can email written statements to his office via the city's website at www.ci.danbury.ct.us.

The Main Street post office opened in 1916. It offers city residents post office boxes and counter service.

But in 1985, the Postal Service moved much of its operations to Backus Avenue, near the Danbury Fair mall.

Questions have arisen as to whether the Postal Service needs the space it owns in the mostly unused and aging Main Street facility.

In March, the U.S.P.S. mailed questionnaires to city residents about their use of the Main Street office, noting that "recent reviews of local services continued to show a decline in workload" there.

Of the 3,200 questionnaires sent, the Postal Service received just 400. Only 200 were filled out, while the remaining 200 were simply signed.

Saadi said that on a recent afternoon, he was one of 14 people waiting in line at the Main Street post office.

"I don't get the idea it's not being used," he said.

Marion has said the public meeting is a part of the Postal Service's process whenever it considers closing a facility.

But Boughton said Monday that his office, and that from the city's Congressional delegation in Washington, may have also played a part in setting up the meeting.

Both Boughton and Saadi said Monday that keeping a post office open on Main Street -- with postal workers, post office boxes and regular counter service -- is of paramount importance.

Keeping the old building open may have to yield to that demand, they said.

"Our preference is to not have to close the existing office,'' Boughton said. "But we need a visible store on Main Street."